Heroes to Hunters
Chapter 20
Now it is time for the rampage. I'll do some lead up stuff and set up for the fight before getting into the nitty gritty of the battle itself. So on with the show.
(Hanai POV)
I still can't believe all of this is real. I thought I'd be stuck in Tartarus for the rest of my life. Or until some insane event happened, and I broke out of prison. I guess technically the latter happened but not the way I expected. That Goss Harag or whatever it was did me a favor in more than one way. I don't have my quirk anymore, but I also don't have to worry about things like the Safety Commission either. So now I can move around and fight whoever I want. Or rather any monster I want.
"Looks like you're all locked and loaded." I hear behind me. Han again. I guess I owe him a bit as well given he saved me from a Great Baggi. I smirk before saying, "almost. I'm still waiting on some armor. I just gave old man Hamon some parts from the last monster I hunted." Right as I'm saying that Hamon calls out and tells me that the armor is done.
When he sees the two of us, he gets this look in his eye. He smiles before saying, "I guess you want to emulate the guy who saved you." We both give him a look and I shake my head before asking if I could put the stuff on. His smile widens before saying I could. I go to a private spot behind the steelworks to put on my new armor. Once I'm done I look it over before nodding. I had the old man make me the Wroggi armor. I know we aren't in an old west place but I just loved the look of the gear. Too bad they don't have a bowgun for Wroggi parts though.
Right as I'm coming around the steelworks, Han's eyes widen as he sees me in my new armor. His palamute must have thought he was stunned or something because the beast knocked into his side. He coughs before saying, "so that's what you meant."
I'm a bit confused so I ask him what he was talking about, he turns to the side and brings down the beak of his Aknosom helmet. But I can still see a bit of a blush. Hamon laughs a bit before telling me the bigger point. "He really likes the Wroggi gear as well. He often wears the high grade Wroggi armor and uses the Hoodwinkers revolver with it often." Oh so its like…. Wait he means…
"That is not why I got this! I just thought the armor looked cool and I already had the parts to make it!" I defend rapidly. This just makes Hamon and a few of the others around the steelworks laugh though. Han just sighs before asking Hamon if he had his new bowgun done. "Oh come on. Just a bit of fun," the old man says with a shit eating smirk. Han just gives him a sigh before the old man brings out the weapon.
I had already gotten my new sniper shot, but the one that he gets looks no different from a regular Kamura bowgun. Except that it looks like it is made of red metal rather than the green or bronze color that most Kamura weapons look like. "What so special about that rifle?" I ask. Han turns back to me and say that it is a Rampage light bowgun IV. "It allows for a lot more customization." He then explained that he had most of his ammo types able to fire extra shots for the price of one bullet. As well as adding parts that amplified the ability to hit weak points and reduce the recoil. "Add on the gems set in on my armor and I can hit the beasts plenty hard."
"Wait…. Gems?" Hamon explained that certain gems could be combined to make armor stronger. But not mine. I was excited to hear that and asked if I could put some on my new armor. Though the old man shot that idea down fast. "You're pouting you know that? Though I will say….. its kinda cute to see." Han says nonchalantly. And I know now I'm blushing, but that won't stop me from punching him in the side. "Stop messing with me! We have a big fight ahead!" Han coughs before agreeing and tells me to lock and load all the ammo I can. He doesn't have to tell me twice.
(No POV)
"So how is this going to go Elder Fugen?" Izuku asks as everyone meets up in the gathering hub to discuss the strategy. The old warrior nods to the hunters gathered before going explaining the details.
He speaks to his fellow Kamura hunters, mentioning that an Apex Rathian had been spotted. "Its along one of the routes to the Red Stronghold. That target is a bit too strong for most of you who are new to Kamura. So we'll be sending you to a different section of the stronghold. Don't worry the layout is roughly the same as what you've seen so far." This confuses a few of the Astrea and most of the Earth group.
Ochaco raises her hand and asks, "if we're not helping with the defense against this Apex Rathian, what are we doing?" "You'll be focused on fighting some of the other monsters that come in due to the Rampage. We have two other routes that we know the monsters will be coming up. Since the Rampage has grown beyond what it used to be, we need more people covering the other routes." Master Utsushi says while sharpening his Cyclone dual blades.
Momo nods before asking how to divide up what to do. "The group of you from Earth can cover the north path. You've got a lot more novices in terms of hunters so this should be a better challenge. There's two waves coming with a few stronger monsters," Hinoa explained as she prepared her bow. Minoto then took over, with her lance on her back, and said, "from what we can tell, a strong Azuros and Mizustune are the foes you will have to contend with. Be prepared for that. You'll have a large number of points to defend from, and there will be a Dragonator on many of the platforms. Just defend the gates and you'll be fine."
Upon hearing that the pros nodded and said that they would take the first gate defense. But All Might stopped them. "You all may have been pro heroes in our old world, but you don't know how terrifying many monsters can be. And you may have completed hunter training and killed a few monsters, that still doesn't compare to hordes of them." Midnight nods before saying that they should stick to the second gate and be ready for the time being. While ones like Mirko and Hawks want to refute what she said, Ryuku and the big three of UA agree with their teachers.
Hanai snorts a bit at the way Mirio tries to talk up what they have to do in defense of the gate and village, but she doesn't disagree with the plan set out. "Do you dislike the plan they are setting up for you?" Amalee asks as she preps her Rampage bow and has on her High rank Nargacuga armor. Hanai smiles before saying, "I don't disagree that we aren't ready for a big fight like you all are getting involved in. And the fact that the real rookies like us are getting rear guard duty isn't that surprising."
Amalee nods before looking Hanai over once. She smirks before whispering something in the fallen hero's ear. Something that makes Hanai go red and sputtering to cover up for herself. Amalee laughs a bit before telling all of the UA group good luck. Alsiya comes up to Izuku and pats him on the shoulder. "Make me proud out there. My first student. It may not be the same level as the rest of us, but its nonetheless important." Izuku nods and all of the hunters head out to the Red Stronghold.
Once there, a few of the villagers load up extra ammo for the installations they will put up. "Okay I'm going to the section right by the gate. I'll use the retreat shots on the gate breakers and blast them as fast as I can." Mineta says before running off to the location. The rest nod and each of the hunters sets off for their designated areas.
At the second gate, Mirio sets up a few of the bamboo bombs at the proper choke points. While Nejire and Tamaki set up their ballistae. "This sucks! We get sidelined and stuck with rear guard duty!?" Mirko shouts while pacing next to the spitting wyvern controls. Ryuku rolls her eyes before saying, "we have a job to do. We're not beating villains we are defending this location. We'll get a chance eventually." Hanai chuckles before setting up her own ballistae. 'Hot blooded heroes are all the same. They're always looking for the next big fight.' She thinks to herself.
Down at the first gate though, the rest of the UA hunters are getting into position. All Might is set up across from Mineta, ready to use the ballistae and then switch to a cannon when it was ready. Izuku meanwhile is ready at the front with his Leaping Glaive and Tetrandon armor. "You really do like green don't you Midoriya?" Momo asked after checking over her own Azuros gun and armor. Izuku chuckled but he noticed that something seemed off with the VP of class 1-A.
"Hey are you okay? I know this isn't the best time, but I'm willing to listen if you want to talk later." Izuku offers while stretching out a bit. Momo's eyes raise in surprise, but she then looks down. And then she looks to both Shoto and Kyoka who are preparing their own stations. Shoto having the Cross Blitz bowgun and wearing reinforced Kamura armor. And Kyoka had a Vicelo Nulo on her back and was wearing Baggi armor. When both saw that Momo was looking at them, they turned away.
Momo sighs before saying, "I will take you up on that Midoriya. I could use someone to talk to about…." "You don't need to explain. We've got something more important to deal with first." Izuku says as they hear the horns going off from the other passes. The Rampage has begun. Each of the UA hunters take their positions and aim for the mouth of the pass.
The first beast that come through are a pair of Great Izuchi and a Tetrandon. "Focus on the Tetrandon!" Midnight calls out and half of the hunters do just that. They fire shot after shot into the turtle crocodile fusion monster. But the Izuchi's are still ready for a fight. One strike Izuku out of his ballistae and is at the same level with the monsters for a moment. But then he draws his glaive and vaults himself out of the second Great Izuchi's attack. Momo and Tetsutetsu take the chance to attack the bird wyverns again, and Izuku gets back to his position.
He fires a few more ballistae rounds into the Tetrandon alongside Midnight and Rin and the beast falls back. But there are more to come. New waves of Tetrandon come over the first barricade, with an Aknosom flying above and peppering the hunters with fire. And on the ground an Azuros and Great Wroggi are striking as well.
Right after the first barricade falls, the alarm rings out that the cannons are ready. All Might and Tetsutetsu switch to those right away and start laying into some of the monsters in range. Ochaco who was positioned on the large center platform, gets knocked back after an Azuros attack, but she runs to the switch for the Dragonator and unleashes it. The attack does massive damage to the ground monsters, and they retreat.
But the Aknosom is still flying and fires a few fireballs at the pink cheeked girl. She gets knocked over again and this time is on fire. "Ochaco!" Izuku calls out and is about to abandon his ballistae. But then Mineta and All Might get some solid shots on the monster, and Ochaco has enough time to roll the fire off of herself. "I'm alright! We've got more incoming!" She calls out and take her position again. Izuku nods before taking aim downrange.
Another wave of Great Izuchis, Tetrandons, Great Wroggis, and Azuros come into the pass. But one Azuros is bigger than the others. And the combined attacks and distractions are enough for the Tetrandons to break through the barricades. But right as they do, Mineta hits one in the face with a retreat shot, and All Might thunderblights the second. The rest of the UA hunters fight off the other monsters as best they can and finally make some headway when Shoto and Kyoka take a chance and wyvern ride an Azuros and one of the Tetrandons. Shoto manage to defeat the bigger Azuros with his Tetrandon, and Kyoka clears out some of the other monsters with the Azuros she is riding.
Once they had defeated the monsters, most of the beasts retreated. "At least that wave is done. But now we have the bigger danger to worry about." Shoto says, while checking over his bowgun. Kyoka nods before wondering what monsters all will be coming at them. The UA hunters set up some new installations that had just finished being prepped by the Kamura villagers. "So these things are like autofire weapons? Well that frees up some space but where do we put them?" Setsuna asks while looking over the wyvernfire artillery. Itsuka and Momo think about it for a second and both come to the same conclusion.
"We set them up on the bigger platform. And then we aim the cannons straight back to the gate." Momo says first. Itsuka wirebugs up to the platform and sets one of the cannons. "We should set both for firebeams. They'll do more damage," the class rep of 1-B says to the vice rep of 1-A. With a nod the onyx haired teen nods and does just that.
Izuku meanwhile has set up a machine cannon at the front of the zone. As does Yui at her new station. "You aren't switching Mineta?" "No. It's better to have the retreat shot in case we need it. If we have a bunch of gate busters come in, they could break the barrier down pretty easy," the purple pervert says while loading up his double bolts and double crag shots.
Momo and Itsuka had given up their main posts for the wyvernfire artillery, so they each start shoveling coal into the blast furnaces to help speed along repairs and ammo restocks. When the cry is heard through the pass, they know the battle is about to begin again. Momo draws her bowgun, while Itsuka draws her Izuchi greatsword and they prepare for a ground fight.
When the first monster comes over the wall, Izuku's eyes widen as it is a Basarios, Khezu and a Pukei-pukei covering them from above. He quickly snaps out of it and silkbinds the Khezu to barrage the monster with shots. The Basarios though goes past and right into Tetsutetsu's thunder ammo and regular cannon shots. On the ground Momo starts firing off rounds from her bowgun, while Itsuka tries to engage the Basarios. But the creature barely notices her. "Its like they don't care unless they reach a certain pain point!" she shouts as she performs a hunting edge to cleave down on the rocky beast.
Momo though takes advantage of the shield she had attached to her bowgun, and then sets up a counter shot. Right as a new Izuchi comes in and attacks, she absorbs the hit and fires it right at the Basarios. This is enough between all the other shots to make the creature fall. The rest take shot after shot. But the real challenge has yet to arrive.
Right as Izuku is catching his breath after being poisoned and knocked out of his position again, he hears something arrive from behind. It then rushes the green haired boy, and he gets coated in bubbles. "What the hell!?" He shouts as he tries to regain his footing. He looks up and sees the watery fox-like wyvern: Mizutsune. The whole group remembers the lore poem that was associated, and it recites in their minds. Light blue bubbles, reflecting the moonlight. Fragile and ephemeral. Like flowers blooming at night. Traces of a creature, graceful in its precision. Noble, yet beguiling. An entrancing vision. The bewitching dancer Mizutsune.
Izuku shakes out of the memory and tries to engage the beast. But he is still afflicted with the bubbleblight and gets knocked around by another monster. As he hits a wall, he says, "OKAY! I think I heard something crack! I need some more HELP!" Upon hearing that, Tetsutetsu jumps from his spot and draws his Hypnos Knife to cover Izuku. "Got your back Midoriya!" he shouts as he slashes at the Wroggi that had attacked Izuku.
At the final gate though, the Mizutsune had arrived and was putting the Momo and Itsuka in quite a bind. Thanks to a Rathalos that had showed up, Mineta was occupied trying to knock the beast out of the sky. And All Might was focused on another Khezu and Tetrandon that were attacking the gate. And the rest of their allies were busy with other monsters attacking. So the two heads of the classes were being set upon by the beguiling monster known as Mizutsune.
"Are you KIDding Me!?" Itsuka shouted after getting afflicted with bubbleblight and sliding onto her but. Momo used her bowgun as best she could, but she underestimated the speed of the watery monster. After getting knocked around and aside, then getting tail slammed by the beast, the girl was dazed with a slightly broken arm and at the mercy of it and the other monsters. Right as the Mizutsune was about to strike though, a cluster bomb dropped down on it's head. "You aren't touching Yaoyorozu!" Shoto shouted as he switched to paralysis ammo. Kyoka then jumped in and slammed her horn on the beast's head before saying to Momo, "We've got your back! Just get ready to fire!"
Momo was surprised, but incredibly grateful to the two who had feelings for her. She shook whatever misgivings she had at the moment out and prepared some sleep ammo. Kyoka's playing had managed to boost all of the damage nearby and Momo got a clean shot that put the monster to sleep. She then ran up and prepared a wyvernfire shot as close as she could. Shoto reloaded his cluster bomb and Kyoka attacked a few other monsters with Itsuka to build up her symphony. Right when she was finished, she played the tune and buffed all of them. Even healing some of the injuries that Momo had received. The tall girl thanked Kyoka and fired off the shot.
While this woke up the beast, it was soon distracted by the cluster bomb Shoto had fired and then the blows from Kyoka. And to top it off, Momo laid prone on the ground and fired off a wyvernsnipe shot to do extra damage. This was enough to finish off the monster.
While the rest of the group cleaned up the other beasts around. Including Izuku, getting on the back of a Basarios and cutting it a few times. While Tetsutetsu got under the beast's stomach and cut it up as best he could. Even working in a strong windmill wirebug strike. The two finally finished the beast, as did the rest of the UA hunters.
When it was done, Rin fell back and started laughing. "Oh man! This was nuts! Its no wonder they wanted help. We maybe could have used the others help as well," the former scaled boy says while laying down. Midnight sighs before admitting, "yeah we kinda underestimated what we could be facing here. We may need some of their help next time." While everyone else is catching their breath, Izuku and Yui both look up to see something that scares them.
Floating through the clouds is a monster that seems to be whipping up a storm. All of the sudden the beast roars, and the shockwave from it is felt even by those on the ground. Mineta with panic in his eyes and voice asks, "what the Hell is that thing!?" "That is Wind Serpent Ibushi." A voice says behind him.
This scares the short former hero student and surprises the rest. The one who said it was Kuvna. She looked up at the beast and sighed. "That thing is actually one of the causes of the Rampage. And it won't be too long and we will have to fight it again….. But for now you all did well. We'll celebrate a bit back at the village. C'mon." With smiles growing on their faces, the other teens cheer and head back for to Kamura village.
Done. I hope I captured enough of the chaos and panic that has started happening in that world. Let alone the panic that comes from having to fight hordes of monsters. Please review.